FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2018 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT ALLTRACK WAGON

What a lovely looking and fun family wagon!

BabyDrive Verdict

The Volkswagen Passat Alltrack was to be our first BabyDrive Family Adventure car!! So not only was I was excited to get away from it all for a few days as a family, I was excited to drive the Passat and see how it would go carrying all our gear that we now seem to trudge everywhere with us!!!

Well, firstly I was impressed with what a good looking car it was! I love the chrome wing mirrors and detailing on the outside and the inside was stylish as well!

Loading the boot for our trip I was pleasantly surprised how much stuff we could get in there!! Our daughter's bedrail wouldn't fit on the boot so had to go into the rear footwell but other than that we crammed it all in! When the boot is empty it will hold 16 shopping bags. Or the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller and Urban Jungle single strollers both fitted with seven bags beside them. The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with 13 shopping bags beside it.

We found using the dog screen instead of the roller blind allowed us to get more into the boot rather than having to put things in the cabin.

Storage was fantastic in the cabin too. In the front, the two cup holders in the central console were well sized to hold all types of vessels from large refillable water bottles to 600ml bottles and disposable and reusable coffee cups. The door bins are large and felt lined, they would hold a large refillable water bottle and my wallet.

There is a cordless phone charging tray in front of the gear lever that also has a USB socket and I found the best place for my phone.

The central console storage box is quite small but is felt lined so nothing will rattle in there and there is a USB socket in there too. The glove box is also small, I could only get my wallet in there with the manual. It is also felt lined and has the option to work like an Esky with a cooling dial in there too, which is handy for keeping kids' food cool when you're out and about all day.

There is a glasses case in the ceiling too and both front visors have lit vanity mirrors in them.

In the back, the storage is also good with equally good capacity in the door pockets and solid map pockets on the back of both front seats that would hold an iPad but not conceal it.

There are three different sized cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. I found they were very versatile and would hold various sized vessels, like the front ones, from my large refillable water bottle to a Pigeon baby bottle and reusable and disposable coffee cups.

There are ISO Fix in the outer rear seats in the Passat within plastic guides, which made them easy to connect to.

There were top tethers in the backs of all three rear backrests which I found best to access by bringing the seatbacks forward as I couldn't reach across the long wagon boot!!

The seats were relatively easy to install, but I could only fit two child seats into the back of the Passat. The seat base and back has a fair bit of shaping, which prevented me from being able to fit a third seat in the middle. If you definitely need to install three child seats then make sure you check they will fit on your test drive.

I installed the Britax Graphene (rear facing) on one side and the Britax Unity infant capsule on the other. I could just sit between the two seats but it was quite a squeeze!

My main negative for BabyDrive was I did have a problem when installing a forward facing child seat. The rear headrests are not removable and I found they pushed the top of the child seat forward in a really uncomfortable angle which meant my daughter's head was also pushed forward. This was worse when she fell asleep because then her head had to flop forward onto her chest rather than resting backwards into the child seat. While my husband was driving, I had to get into the back and hold her head back while she was asleep, which wasn't really ideal!! The rear headrests are also shaped so that it is hard to connect a rear baby mirror. I found our Britax one, which is usually fantastic at fixing onto anything, just rotated and slipped off these headrests. It's such a shame because apart from the headrests it is a fantastic BabyDrive!

The media system in the VW Passat has a beautiful, big screen with a really crisp, clear image. I found it an easy system to navigate and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The sat-nav is very good and the voice commands are easy to change volume or mute via the announcements button on the screen.

I discovered my favourite screen when I had had enough of my daughter's nursery rhymes and wanted to move it to play just in her rear speaker and this beautiful screen appeared where I could just swipe the noise to where I wanted it!!! AMAZING!! I did get a little carried away with testing swirling it around and dropping it onto my husband's head!! All juvenile and not very mature of me!!! 😉

Visibility out of the Passat was very good for rear and front passengers. Reverse parking was simple and the parking sensors are loud but can be easily muted from a button on the screen.

The Passat was a lovely car to drive, smooth, easy and enjoyable. It was mostly quiet with just an occasional tractor like grunt which I am told is the diesel engine. There is an annoying lag when accelerating which I just can't stand so found when I drove it in sport mode it overcame the lag and it drove fantastically, but that is how I would expect a car to be in normal drive mode though!

Overall I would have found the Passat a great BabyDrive if you only need two rear-facing child seats! Otherwise, you do need to use forward-facing child seats at some stage and those headrests are just a problem! Apart from that and the lag it's a great vehicle inside and out!

The VW Passat scored a five-star ANCAP Safety rating in 2015 and has seven airbags.

BabyDrive Indepth

BabyDrive Indepth - Storage

The boot of the Passat is a great rectangular space, with storage wells on both sides that I found really useful for separating things like suncream, lunchboxes and shoes!

From empty you could put a large dog in there or I could get 16 shopping bags in there.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

With the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller in the boot, I could get seven shopping bags in too.

The retractable roller blind has an automatic press function to retract it and could be removed and stored easily under the boot floor. We also used the net in the boot that is a partition for carrying dogs etc. We went on a family adventure in this car and found with the net in place, we could safely carry more in the boot by piling it higher and didn't have to put luggage in the cabin with the rear passengers.

The boot floor was nice and flat and carpeted so a good space for an emergency nappy change.

Inside the cabin of the Passat, storage is actually very good too! There are two cup holders in the central console that are a good size for holding re-usable and disposable coffee cups and my large refillable water bottle or a 600ml bottle fitted in there too!

In the front of the Passat, the door bins are quite large and lined. They would hold my large refillable water bottle and my wallet but the iPad wouldn't fit.

There is a wireless phone charging rubber tray in front of the gear lever and there is a USB socket in there too, which is where I stored my phone while driving.

The lid of the central console storage box doubles as your armrest. Inside the box is quite small, it is felt lined and there is a USB socket in there too. By the driver's right knee is a coin drawer too which is also felt lined.

The glove box is felt lined as well, it is not very big though, and I could not fit an iPad in, only my wallet with the manual. There is a dial in there that allows you to cool the glove box so you can use it like a little Esky.

There is a rubber lined glasses case in the ceiling as well.

In the back, there are solid map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold an iPad but not totally conceal it.

The door bins in the back are slightly shorter than the front ones but they will still hold a large refillable water bottle.

The central seatback has a fold-down armrest containing three different size cup holders. I found they would hold my large refillable water bottle, a disposable or refillable coffee cup, a 600ml water bottle or Pigeon baby bottle all fitted in them using different configurations.

BabyDrive Indepth - Noise

The Passat has front and rear parking sensors that make a loud beeping noise that would definitely wake a baby! The volume can be muted very easily by pressing a button on the bottom left of the reversing camera screen.

There is also a button on the dashboard, below the clock, where you can turn the reversing camera and sensors on and off and any time.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The indicators in the Passat were not too loud that they would disturb a sleeping baby.

When you bring your hand towards the bottom of the Sat-Nav map screen a row of buttons appears and the Announcements button allows you to easily adjust or mute the Sat-Nav voice volume.

The media system in the Passat is easy to use and navigate, with a large and crisp display that is touch screen and you can swipe just like a phone. It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I found it easy to connect my phone to and it was a great system to use. I found the sound distribution screen particularly nice to use when I wanted to move the nursery rhymes to play only on the back left speaker. I could just drag across the screen with my finger to the seat I wanted it to play for. I found this a fantastic feature.

The doors and windows are quiet to open but they both close with a thump that could disturb little sleeping passengers.

The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!

I found I could come to a stop, take my seatbelt off and get out of the car and leave the engine running and no alarms went off. There is a seatbelt removal alarm but it does not sound if you have the car in park.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (ps I only stand outside the car I am not a bad mother!!)

You can lock both the doors and windows from the driver's door control panels. Engine and road noise in the Passat were completely fine, there was the occasional tractor like sound from under the bonnet that we put down to the diesel engine but it was nothing baby waking and Passat was an enjoyable car to drive.

The Passat has auto engine cut out, which you can turn on and off with a button next to the gear lever. I found it was quite passenger disturbing in the Passat and did need to turn it off.

I find this function really disturbing for sleeping babies, you have just got your baby to sleep in the car and you stop at lights and the engine turns off sometimes they will stay asleep but when the engine shudders to a start again it shakes baby awake and all your efforts are ruined!! Even coming to a stop at lights with the engine running can be enough to wake a sleeping child so turning the engine off and on again will definitely do it! I have driven routes I know have roundabouts rather than lights just to avoid coming to a stop for any length of time!!

BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats

The Passat is a five-seater wagon, with ISOFix in both the outer rear seats and top tether across the backrests of all three rear seats. The ISOFix points were really nice and easy to connect to in plastic guides.

The top tethers were too far across the wagon boot for me to reach to connect so I had to bring the seatbacks forward to connect them. This was not too difficult as the top tether points are quite high up on the seat backs so quite easy to reach.

I found I could only instal two child seats in the back of the Passat. The shaping of the rear seat back and base just made it too difficult to move the child seats out far enough to have a third seat in the middle, which was a real shame because if the rear seats weren't so shaped they would be wide enough to hold a third child seat.

I installed two rear-facing child seats in the outer seats using ISOFix and top tethers; the Britax Unity Infant capsule and Britax Graphene. With the rear facing child seats installed I could just sit between them. I'm 162cm, but my arms were pressed against the child seats. It was difficult for me to get in and out of the central seat though as the front seats did not come forward far enough to give me access.

There was ample legroom in the front for tall drivers or passengers, with rear-facing child seats installed behind them.

My main BabyDrive negative for the Passat is the rear headrests. They are not removable, which I found was a problem when we installed a forward-facing child seat. It pushed the top of the child seat forward so the child's head was pushed unnaturally forward. This was more of a problem when the child fell asleep because their heads then flopped forwards as they could not lean backwards. I actually had to move into the back and hold our daughters head up while she slept!!

I also found the rear headrests were poorly shaped to hold the child mirror in place,as it kept coming undone, sliding around the headrest and falling off!

Posting bub in and out of their child seats from inside the car was fine there was plenty of room with only one child seat installed. From outside it was ample space too but I did hit my head on the door frame a couple of times, I think as I'm so used to SUV's now!!

Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed Bub in the back when only one child seat is installed.

The seats are leather which would wipe clean easily but they have a lot of stitch details and seams which would trap crumbs and child spills!

The rear seats are quite bucket-like and I found I did have to level out the infant capsules when I installed them.

BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort

The front seats of the Passat are very comfortable, they have electric adjustment and there is even a massage option for the driver's seat of the model we drove!!! I could wear a ponytail in the front seats as the headrests were very adjustable.

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

The rear seats are comfortable too but the central seat back is hard because of its fold-down armrest and cup holders. You sit a little higher in the central seat and have to straddle a hump in the footwell too.

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in and out and up and down. The cruise controls are situated on the steering wheel and are very easy to use. I found the cruise control very accurate and reliable and would only vary by about 3km either way of the set speed, even on undulating roads.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard, two in the centre and one at either end. Volkswagen has made the air vents a design feature across the length of the passenger side dashboard but it is not an enormous air vent, there are still the usual four vents.

There are two in the back of the central console box for the rear passengers which were easily reachable whilst driving.

The controls are positioned on the central dashboard, I found them really simple and easy to reach and use, and the airflow was effective for coolong the car on a hot Queensland day.

There are no built-in blinds in the rear windows. All the windows are tinted but we did add a shade to our daughter's window to give extra shade from the sun.

Visibility in the Passat was very good. Our daughter had a good view forward facing and the windows are nice and big for rear facing passengers too. For the driver, visibility is also good when driving and parking.

I am finding the difference between driving wagons and SUV's is that with wagons, on the whole, you get better visibility lower down at the back of the vehicle where children or objects might be. So I do feel much more confident when reversing in a wagon than most SUV's. The SUV's windows and thus visibility is much higher up so you have to rely on your rear camera to check there is nothing in the lower blindspot where children could be.

The rear camera image is very crisp and clear on a nice big screen making it a great additional source of visibility when reverse parking and the mutable front and rear sensors are helpful too.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get big cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the VW Passat although it is a long wagon was really easy to reverse park!!

There are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors and although you can not reach the rear interior lights from the driver's seat there is a master switch for the rear lights in the front light control panel which is an excellent BabyDrive feature. The rear lights have a nice soft glow to them rather than a harsh light which is great for little passengers.

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a 5minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

The Passat was a really enjoyable car to drive around town and out on open roads when I had it in sport mode! In normal drive it has a REALLY FRUSTRATING lag when you accelerate, which I found drove me mad, but in sport mode it drove how I would expect the car to drive all the time.

There is a handle above both rear doors which are well positioned for hanging a child's toy.

There is a 12V socket in the front and back of the central console.

The interior and exterior design of the Passat is very nice. I particularly like the contrasting chrome of the wing mirrors and outside trims which is carried through to the interior as well.

No surfaces feel too cheap to touch, everything would be wiped cleanable and the front seatbacks wipe clean easily from rear passenger feet!! There are carpet floormats throughout the footwells as well.

The Passat has keyless entry which is FABULOUS!! The tailgate is powered too and is silent when opened or closed from the boot but beeps continually if you use the key or button in the driver's door.

The distance to empty is clearly displayed on the digital display in front of the steering wheel which is a great BabyDrive feature.

The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!

BabyDrive Indepth - Safety

The Volkswagen Passat has seven airbags as standard. In the front, the driver and passenger have side and frontal airbags and one for the driver's knee. As well as side chest and side head-protecting curtain airbags for the front and rear side passengers.

The Volkswagen Passat got a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2015. Getting a total of 35.89 out of 37 overall. For the frontal offset test 14.89 out of 16 and 16/16 for the side impact test. Scoring 2/2 for the pole test.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!

The new Holden ZB Commodore is the first one to be made in Germany rather than Australia and I really like it! Apart from all its beeping, moaning baby-waking alarms it is a very practical BabyDrive! Read More